Describe and Evaluate Two or More Theories of the Formation of Romantic Relationships.

Fairy tales tell us that once upon a time a girl met a boy; they fell in love, and lived happily ever after. Reality is not that simple. Long-term relationships force couples to get to know each other, involve themselves in each others’ worlds, fight through the hard times, and eventually develop deeper connections as noted through distinctive stages of Knapp’s relationship model. Although I have dated the same person for over two years, our communication through relationship stages makes it seem as though I am now dating a different person than the one I met years ago. Following dissolution and subsequent repair, I realize the most exhilarating of roller coaster rides develop through sets of ups and downs, much like the

In A. L. Evangelista & D. Perlman, Cambridge handbook of personal relationships. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press ISBN 0-521-82617-9

The Filter Theory shows more how people are kept away, and relationships are controlled based on a person’s perception. It states that Relationships go though stages whereby different criteria are used at successive stages. It starts with social variables, such as class and religion. Then it moves to internal values. Finally, it moves to personality traits. Note that we seek similarity in social variables and values, but personality traits may be complementary.

Moreover, this relationship forms to satisfy the couple’s shared desire and to nullify the “threat of ultimate dreariness [which] seems to hang over even the happiest moments” (896).

3.1 Process involved in the development, maintenance and breakdown of relationships – development - Reward/need satisfaction model direct reinforcement may encourage the formation of a relationship between individuals. Operant conditioning could occur where an individual is positively reinforced with the potential partner offering pleasant stimulus such as smiling. Additionally social needs may be provided for by this potential partner such as friendship and sex, furthering the likelihood of a relationship developing. Alternatively negative reinforcement may be involved where a negative stimulus is removed by the potential partner e.g. If a woman helps a man through a troubled time in his life he may find her more attractive as she has helped to alleviate his negative stimuli. Liking through association – Classical conditioning The potential partner may be associated with pleasant circumstances. If someone was to meet another individual while they are in a good mood, they may then associate such individual with the positive mood, finding them more

The second major psychological perspective is that of learning. The perspective of learning is “concerned with how the environment and experience affect a person’s actions” (Wade and Tavris, 2011). When applied to a relationship standpoint many factors come into play. As a child who was raised to respect women, my mom always encouraged me to have healthy long-term relationships and not be a “player”. This lead to me implementing those ideas into my life and sticking with

The most common relationship problems are those between couples. Having intense feelings for another, being deeply or passionately in love with someone is sheer joy. However, when troubles arise, is can be devastating. Whether the relationship is strong because of passion, comfort or admirable qualities such as commitment towards each other, it leaves a feeling of disappointment when there is a disturbance that appears as a flaw in this perfect affair of the heart. Depending on what the problems are,

A Ted Talk by Esther Perel focuses on the secret to desire in a long-term relationship. Many parts in her talk relate to concepts we have discussed in class. In the talk and in class it is explained that your relationship style or attachment starts young and continues into your adult life and sex life. Focusing on desire, Esther explains that romanticism and caretaking can be similar,

According to the interdependence theory, there are four kinds of relationships that are based on our comparison level, comparison level for alternatives, and outcomes. This means that our judgments of what we feel like we deserve from our partners, what we believe we can get from other potential partners, and the subjective net reward of our relationship all affect which type of relationship that we are in. When our outcomes outweigh our comparison level and comparison level for alternatives, we feel that there are more rewards to our relationship and we do not think that we will get more benefits from another potential partner; as a result, we would be in a happy, stable relationship. An example is a couple that do each others' chores and

Throughout relationships, what separates them from healthy and unhealthy is a wide spectrum of uncertainty. Furthermore, not every relationship will be stagnant throughout each person’s lifetime. In this paper, I will be discussing the lengths of my relationship with a good friend of mine, Devon. Furthermore, I can pinpoint some areas in the Power and Control Wheel that may have been of use when we were younger. Also, I see an importance of the Equality wheel and how it relates to our relationship today.

Sociological perspectives explains love relationships as not perfect but a working progress. A commitment which relies on continuous maintenance and reassurance. Love relationship practices and investments are configured in experiences that will be shared in the past, present and in the future.

The fairy tales say that once upon a time a girl met a boy; they fell in love, and lived happily ever after. Reality is not that simple. Long-term relationships force couples to get to know each other, involve themselves in each others’ worlds, fight through the hard times, and eventually develop deeper connections through distinctive stages of Knapp’s relationship model. Although I have dated the same person for over two years, the stages of our communication make it seem as though I am now dating a different person following dissolution and subsequent repair. However, even the most exhilarating of roller coaster rides develop through a combination of ups and downs, much like the stages of a relationship.

Drapalski, 2002) Dating couples more likely to remember that they feel now as they felt

The Needs Satisfaction Theory is based on the behaviourist approach. It states that we form relationships and friendships based on what we will get out of them. There are two strands to this: needs and rewards. Our social needs are things like self esteem, influence, belonging and dependency. The rewards can include love, sex, friendship, respect, status and support, but this list is not exhaustive. Being in the relationship is rewarding, so this is positive reinforcement through operant conditioning. Byrne and Clore's (1970) Reinforcement-Affect theory claims that relationships are affected by operant and classical conditioning. According to their theory, people associate others with positive or enjoyable circumstances even when they are not directly rewarded by them.

Some relationships are fleeting, some long; some are intense, others comfortable; some are explosive, others